Mathematics & Science Books

An engrossing and revealing study of why we deem certain animals “pests” and others not—from cats to rats, elephants to pigeons—and what this tells us about our own perceptions, beliefs, and actions, as well as our place in the natural worldA squirrel...

In this paradigm-shifting book from acclaimed Harvard Medical School doctor and one of TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people on earth, Dr. David Sinclair reveals that everything we think we know about ageing is wrong, and shares the surprising,...

The follow-up to the BBC Radio 4 Book of the Week Other MindsA Times and Sunday Times Book of the YearA Waterstones Best Book of 2020The scuba-diving philosopher explores the origins of animal consciousness. Dip below the ocean’s surface and you are...

Australia's favourite science guru explains the facts about climate change -- and how we can fix it How do Greenhouse Gas molecules shimmy and shake to trap 400,000 Hiroshima atom bombs' worth of the Sun's heat each day?Who did the early research into...

SHORTLISTED FOR THE ROYAL SOCIETY SCIENCE BOOK PRIZE 2018Bestselling author Simon Winchester writes a magnificent history of the pioneering engineers who developed precision machinery to allow us to see as far as the moon and as close as the Higgs boson...

Edited and introduced by Bill Bryson, with contributions from Richard Dawkins, Margaret Atwood, Richard Holmes, Martin Rees, Richard Fortey, Steve Jones, James Gleick and Neal Stephenson amongst others, this beautiful, lavishly illustrated book tells the...

New York Times BestsellerDiscover the critical link between your brain and the food you eat and change the way your brain ages, in this cutting-edge, practical guide to eliminating brain fog, optimizing brain health, and achieving peak mental...

The ultimate mini English dictionary to support you at work, at school and at home. This handy little dictionary offers clear definitions for all the words you need on a daily basis, providing spelling and pronunciations tips for the trickiest words. As...

A fascinating exploration of how computer algorithms can be applied to our everyday lives. In this dazzlingly interdisciplinary work, acclaimed author Brian Christian and cognitive scientist Tom Griffiths show us how the simple, precise algorithms used...

Top ten Sunday Times Bestseller‘Engaging, ambitious and creative’ GuardianWhere are we? Are we alone? Who are we? Why are we here? What is our future? Human Universe tackles some of the greatest questions that humans have asked to try and understand the...

In this mind-blowing follow-up to the bestselling Information is Beautiful, the king of infographics David McCandless uses spectacular visuals to reveal unexpected insights into how the world really works. We are living in the Information Age, in which...

Professor Brian Cox is back with another insightful and mind-blowing exploration of space. This time he shows us our universe as we've never seen it before. 13.7 billion years old. 93 billion light years wide. It contains over 100 billion galaxies, each...

Shorlisted for the BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-FictionLonglisted for the Royal Society Prize for Science BooksGuardian columnist Dr Ben Goldacre takes us on a hilarious, invigorating and informative journey through the bad science we’re fed by the...

'The poems in Sometimes's collection deftly transcend both spatial scales and time scales. From one line to another we careen across the universe. We fast-forward from the first picosecond of stuff forming in the universe to a Christmas card,...

The only title available on Australian Dragon Lizards including the most recent understanding of their origins and life history.Australia's mostly hot dry continent is home to nearly 800 described species and the seven Australian families represent four...

Step back to a time when Australia's red centre was flooded by a vast shallow ocean, the Eromanga Sea. While dinosaurs stalked the scattered islands that made up the Australian continent, giant marine reptiles ruled the waves. Plesiosaurs and...

Victoria is often seen as the forgotten state when it comes to gem minerals. The history of gems in Victoria is inextricably linked to the discovery of gold in 1851. In 1854, George Milner Stephen publicised for the first time, the discovery of gems in...

We might think of sponges as bathroom objects but the real living animals are far more interesting.They come in all shapes and sizes, occur in all oceans of the world, and have amazing lives.Sponges have lived in our oceans for 600 million years. Ancient...

This guide covers barnacles of mainly south-eastern Australia and begins withinformation about their biology, habitats and diversity. A description of each animal is accompanied by a colour photograph. A key is also provided for easier identification of...

For most of us, shrimps, prawns and lobsters immediately brings to mind something edible and tasty and many are small inconspicuous inhabitants living on our shores and in shallow water.This guide includes a description of each animal...

For many people, the first experience of marine environments is amazement at the bewildering variety of life in the oceans. Sea anemones and corals, sea stars and sea urchins, octopuses and squids are just a few marine creatures that we never encounter...

Crabs, hermit crabs and allies will familiarise the amateur naturalist, beachcomber, diver and others who have an interest in the marine environment of crabs, hermit crabs and their close relatives. What they do, how they behave, their environments,...

Many of us gain inspiration, solace, beauty and a sense of wonder from our interactions with nature, and writers have long plumbed and explored these depths.At the same time as many of us tune in to natural landscapes, our environment is imperilled as...

Have you ever wondered how a sheepdog, police horse, leopard or octopus is trained? Carrots and Sticks brings behavioural science to life, explaining animal training techniques in the language of learning theory. The first sections on instinct and...

The fifth edition Flora of the Sydney Region is the definitive technical guide to the identification of wild plants in one of the world's botanical heartlands. The Flora covers an area of coastal New South Wales stretching from Newcastle to Nowra and...

When Archibald Liversidge first arrived at Sydney University in 1872 as reader in Geology and Assistant in the Laboratory he had about ten students and two rooms in the main building. In 1874 he became professor of geology and mineralogy and by 1879 he...

'For the first time, fish became our companions and a corner of many a Victorian parlour was given over to housing tiny fragments of their world enclosed in glass.'The experience of seeing a fish swimming in a glass tank is one we take...

Historically, grief and spirituality have been jealously guarded as uniquely human attributes. Although nonhuman animal grief has been acknowledged in recent times, the potency of the feeling has not been recognised as equal to human grief. Both academic...

Obaysch: A Hippopotamus in Victorian London is the story of Obaysch the hippopotamus, the first 'star' animal to be exhibited in the London Zoo. In 1850, a baby hippopotamus arrived on English shores, allegedly the first in Europe since the...

Universities have searched for truth over nearly a millennium. Maxwell Bennett recounts the history of this search during three of its most momentous periods in the 13th, 18th and 20th centuries, which helped fashion the idea of a university. He...

At the time of European colonisation of Australia, veterinary medicine was a young profession, and there was little money or time for it. Even by 1910, when the University of Sydney enrolled its first veterinary science undergraduates, there were only...

The tropical rainforests of the Kimberley are among Australia's most biodiverse eco-systems - and, in many ways, its least understood.Kimberley rainforests are rich in species not found elsewhere in the region, have links to South-East Asia, and hold...

To most people, the mention of marine plants conjures up images of rotting seaweeds piled high on the beach, or slithering threateningly around bare ankles during a paddle in the shallows. Certainly, the seaweeds do not inspire the imagination or the...

Einstein gave us a vision of a new universe in which time and space are warped and rippling in response to everything else in the universe. Vast bursts of energy in the form of ripples of pure and empty space are passing through us at light speed,...

Roots are truly amazing structures. They show great flexibility when exploring and exploiting soil substrates of uneven penetrability and availability of water and nutrients, yet also possess highly ordered architectures and anatomical features which may...

Nature's Sexual Spectrum is a celebration of the astonishing diversity of sexual behaviour, biology and reproduction found in nature. From penguins to primates, same-sex behaviours and courtship are more widespread in the natural world than many people...

Quantifying Diets of Wildlife and Fish presents different techniques available to study animal diets. Ecologists determine animal diets to build natural history knowledge, test hypotheses in ecological theory and make informed management decisions for...

Age range 8 to 12Upgrade your tech knowledge with this beautifully illustrated, inspirational, and accessible guide to the fascinating field of computing. From the simplest software to electronic brains, and from smartphone apps to social media and video...

Algal blooms have the potential to wipe out fish farms virtually overnight. Contamination of seafoods with algal toxins can poison human consumers of fish and shellfish. During the past two decades, globally there have been significant increases in...

Victoria's South-West is an iconic region of Australia that includes the exceptional landscape features of the Grampians-Gariwerd, the Victorian Volcanic Plain with crater lakes and cones, the forests of the Great Dividing Range, and Melbourne...

DNA is the essence of life and the original 'big data'. New technologies are allowing scientists to access and make sense of this information like never before, and they are using it to solve the world's greatest environmental...

Miniature Lives provides a range of simple strategies that people can use to identify and learn more about the insects in their homes and gardens. Featuring a step-by-step, illustrated identification key and colour photographs, the book...

Step into the world of our least admired botanical companions. Peel back the layers of prejudice and discover the finer side of the plants we call weeds. An astonishing number are either edible or medicinal, and have deep and sometimes bizarre...

Mayflies are one of the world's most diverse, abundant and important aquatic insects. Famous for their brief adult life spans, mayflies play a key role in the ecology of aquatic and associated terrestrial ecosystems, and are critical...

Amphibians are one of the world's most rapidly declining fauna groups. In an era of devastating climate change, habitat destruction and irreplaceable loss of biological diversity, it has never been more important to have effective resources for...

Many informal organisations around the world are making a positive impact on the environment and their communities by turning waste into a resource, increasing the social capacity of their community and reducing the amount of pollution in their...